True life in the Mass Effect Universe
by A Drunk Canadian
Summary: Self insert/Female Quarian pairing. Forget what you know about the glorified Mass Effect Universe. Join me on my mission to show what life in the Mass Effect universe really is like. How hard it is too survive. Life is not glorified holo-vids or pictures.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Mass Effect or anything relating to the Mass Effect universe. Mass Effect belongs to BioWare. All OC's belong to me.

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Ok, let me start by explaining myself and what life is like living in the Mass Effect universe. I am not going to bore you with how I got here or mumbo jumbo like that. I will however, explain that this universe is nothing like the glorified Mass Effect universe that everyone knows through the game. Can you just have a gun and armour and expect to survive? No. Is racism everywhere that a person goes too? Yes. Is it easy to live and hard to be killed? No and no. Now that I have your attention, I would like you to follow my story, and find out for yourself what the REAL Mass Effect universe is like.

20:15:29 August 20th 2185

**Zakera Ward Apartment Complex 2405-X**

**Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!**

I groaned and cussed the world as the incessant demonic beep of my Omni-tool rang throughout the apartment's bedroom and reverberated between the two sides of my skull. _Whoever invented the alarm clock should be shot, beaten, shot again, starved, shot again, and shot again for developing this sleep depriving torture machine. _I cursed inside of my mind has I none-too-gently mashed the Omni-tool in attempts to shut it up. Finally, getting lucky and succeeding in shutting the alarm off, I slowly got out of bed and surveyed my apartment for what must have been the thousandth time. It was a not too big but not too small 8x8 square inch room. Not exactly King size… but that's all that I could afford right now. Slowly making my way over to the bathroom, I looked at the mirror and half-smiled, half-grimaced at the sight that greeted me. Short, buzz-cut hair that was a dark brown was grungy and was flattened from sleeping on. A sturdy jawline framed my face and tapered to a point that some ladies apparently found attractive. Bluish/Green eyes stared back at me, weary but still holding a spark of youth and cleverness in them. A big build took up most of the mirror, but I was not too muscular, nor was I skinny. I was just big-boned. Three vertical scars chased down the left side of my chest and ended below my pecs. I had obtained it after a nasty bar fight with a Turian had gone south on me. My slightly tanned skin radiated with health but was far from modeling.

_Such a crying shame. _I thought to myself rather sarcastically.

Looking at my eyes again, I sighed and wondered how I could continue on like this. Barely enough money to pay for shelter, food and water, and that was not considering that I had not had another mission for me in over 2 weeks. Splashing my face with water and rubbing my eyes, I exited my bathroom and headed towards the large equipment locker that took up most of my room. Tapping in the password into my Omni-tool, I swung the locker open and gazed with pride at what lay in. My M-6 Carnifex Hand Cannon lay polished and ready to use at the bottom of the locker. Bringing my gaze upward, I found my only other weapon, my pride and joy M-15 Vindicator Battle Rifle. Polished and ready to use, I took it out and felt assured at the comfortable weight in my hands, turning it over and over, looking for defects. Finding none, I let out a satisfied grunt and set it down beside me. Then, there was my last piece. My Mantis medium-class armour suit seemed to absorb all light that was shined on it, what little light there was, and I took it out of the locker, attaching it to my body piece by piece. Finally after having put on my suit of armour, I attached the guns to their respective places on my suit, and as a finishing touch, slid a 7 inch combat knife onto my chest holster. Satisfied that everything was secure, I opened up the door, tapped my Omni-tool to lock it and slid out, nodding to myself as I heard the door close with a thunk and then beep to indicate that it was locked.

My name is Alex Babik, and my life is a living hell. Not literally of course, but it was close enough. With being only 22 and having absolutely no family and few friends, it was a fight for me to just live here on the Citadel. Everything thinks that the Citadel only houses rich people, people that can afford to take a day off or don't have to worry about putting food on the table to eat. That is a bald-faced lie and yet no one can see the truth. Down here in the lower level of the Zakera wards, you cannot even walk one hour without experiencing an encounter where you "tried to steal someone's credit chit" or "Assaulted someone and got into a fight".

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Thinking about how much of a shithole my life was, I walked through the Zakera Ward, hoping that someone would have a job for me. I was a mercenary and a fairly skilled veteran, having been in over 20 firefights and not being dead yet. All along the corridors, I saw neon signs that read **Solaris Tech or Citadel Souvenirs **or some other crap like that. Living in the Citadel for over a year, I knew my way around and so I headed for the Black Star Club. Looking around, I saw sights and signs that depressed me even more. A young female human dressed in what looked like torn cloths and rags was begging for some credits for food, but was promptly ignored. C-Sec officers were detaining a thrashing Turian yelling his innocence. Anunconscious drunk was being dragged away by his friends.

"It's shit like this that makes living on the Citadel so depressing. So much unused space, so much poverty and yet everyone higher up than us just scoff at us and ignore our existence. It were men, like Commander John Shepard that saw everything for what it truly was, not just the glorified areas, holo-vids and pictures." I sighed out loud, more to myself then anyone.

I earned a few odd stares for this, but I did not pay any attention to them and kept on walking.

'Such racism, hate and poverty. How can one truly survive in this universe when everywhere you go, you are either yelled at, insulted, robbed or assaulted?' I mused to myself, lost in my own self-pitying.

Life always threw something at you, you always hope it is good, but it usually fucks you sideways and worse for wear. Life however decided to throw me a curveball, one that could be a blessing or a curse. Either way, it was going to change my life forever.

"I know you took it Quarian! Officer, I demand that you arrest her for stealing my Credit Chit!" A voice rose over the crowd, catching my attention and causing me to look at the source of disturbance. Ahead of me by about 20 feet, a Volus was shaking his fist at a female Quarian and yelling obscenities and words at the female that were practically dripping with venom .

"No I did not! You bumped into me outside the used ship store, and without even apologizing or saying anything you just took off and now your accusing me of stealing your credit chit!" the Quarian shouted with anger and disbelief detectable in her words.

"Hey both of you two calm down! Now let's find out what happened…" the Human C-Sec officer exclaimed trying to calm down both parties.

Interested and tired of all this racism, I made my way forward towards the group, intent on solving the dispute.

What are you doing? I screamed inside my head. It was only then I realized that I remembered a dispute like this from the game, except the odds of it being that were slim to none, however I was tired of all of this bullshit so I continued on.

"I am telling you, I felt her hand slip into my pocket , and when I checked later, my credit chit was-"

"Excuse me" I interrupted "what seems to be the problem here?" I asked calmly, surprised at how smoothly I was handling myself.

"Back off civilian, this is a C-Sec investigation" the officer said, holding his hand out as if to bar me.

"I think I can help here, and I'm pretty sure you want to be done with this, so let me help" I reasoned with the officer, hoping this would calm him down.

He seemed to mull over this for a moment, then nodded his head, confirming my request to help.

Looking over to the Volus I asked "So what is the problem?"

The Volus looked to the Quarian and spoke with an angered voice.

"I was walking down along by the used ship store over there" the Volus pointed to a sign that said **Used Ship Store** "and then the Quarian here bumped by me and robbed me! I felt her hand go into my pocket, and when I checked afterwards, my credit chit was gone!" He yelled the last part at the Quarian, pointing an accusatory finger at her.

"That is a lie!" The Quarian spoke up, outraged.

Raising my hands as a calming effect, I then gently shifted my gaze towards her and I noticed several things. One, her suits design was absolutely beautiful, with red and white colorings and an intricate design on her hood. Two, the suit fit snugly, in all the right places to compliment her body's natural curves and I caught my self-staring for a bit

'Pervert'. I berated myself silently

And finally, the eyes behind her visor were like tiny spirits, between the colour of purple and white and seemingly floating.

'She's beautiful… in a different sort of way' I thought to myself.

Realizing that she was waiting for me to question her, I asked her in the calmest, strongest voice I could muster. "Are these accusations against you true?"

The Quarian breathed deeply for a moment before answering.

"No! They are all lies! He bumped into me outside the Used Ships store, knocked me down, and walked off without even stopping or apologizing. Then a few minutes later, he runs up here with C-Sec, and accuses me of stealing his damn credit chit!" She finishes the last part of her sentence in an angry yell.

Thinking to myself of where it could possibly be, I think for a minute before I remember where it was in the game.

I had no idea where it would be in real life so I just assumed that it would be there because I didn't know anywhere else to go.

Speaking to everyone in the group, I tell them "Stay here, I am going to look for it." And with that I started to make my way to the store that I remembered where the credit chit was in the game.

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I walk for 3 minutes before I see my destination- **Solaris Tech.**

Stepping inside the store, the Salarian clerk there greeted me with a warm welcome, and after I asked if the Volus's credit chit was there, which it was, I hastily made my way over to the investigation group and told the Volus.

"You left your credit chit at the **Solaris Tech** store. The clerk there is holding it for you." I finished with a smile that said 'In your face asshole'.

The Volus froze and then started stuttering and shuffling his feet nervously.

"Oh… well uh… she could have stolen it." He said indignantly, trying to act like he did nothing wrong.

Anger boiled up inside me at this. 'How the hell can he act like he did nothing wrong? Racist bastard!' I yelled inside of my head. But what made me explode, was what the C-Sec officer said.

"Okay ma'am you're clear of all charges, but I will be watching you!" He finished with a threatening stare.

This caused me to blow up.

"What the hell? Are you guys serious?" I shoved the Volus hard enough to make him stumble back. "You accuse her of stealing and yet you just left your credit chit at the store! And you!" I took two fast paces forward and grabbed the officer by his collar. "You saw she was innocent and when you let her off all you can say is that I will be watching you?" I thundered at the officer.

The Quarian had backed up slightly in awe and fear and my thunderous display.

"Its corrupt assholes like you that make the Citadel a bad place!" I yelled and cocking my arm back, I rocked the officer right in the face.

He went down with a grunt and lay still on the ground. The Volus, looked at me in surprise and disbelief and I was pretty sure that behind his mask, fear and worry was etched on his face.

Ignoring him, I went over to the Quarian who had slightly huddled in upon herself.

"Thank you, I wish I had more than just words to give you, but thank you" she spoke in awe and gratitude, a voice that made me smile slyly.

"It was no problem, Everyone needs to do that once in a while, especially too racists. By the way, I never did get your name miss…?" I finished the question with a smile.

"Lia. Lia'vael" She spoke, her voice tinged with a smile.

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Hey guys! This is my first attempt at a self insert for any story, so i dont know if i did bad or good, so if you could be kind enough to spend one minute and hit that review button and tell me how I did and what you think so far, i would be most grateful.

Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Mass Effect or anything in the Mass Effect Universe. I only own my OC's. Do not copy or take without my permission. Honestly just ask and we shall see if what you want to use is reasonable.

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"Hahahahaha!" Did you actually say all that?" I choked out in laughter, banging my fist repeatedly on the table as I could not breathe, I was laughing so hard.

"Yes! And then to finish it all off, he tried to release his Varren on me, only for the Varren to just start nuzzling and licking his face!" Lia'Vael was laughing as hard as I was, and with the two of us laughing and giggling like morons near a 'meditative area' it was of no surprise to me that we were gaining strange looks faster than a non-violent Krogan.

I was having too much fun however to be brought down from my good mood by a few odd stares or barely audible whispers. This Quarian- no, this _woman_- was someone that I found myself liking rather quickly as a friend. Having spent just the afternoon with her, and already I knew so much about her and her culture. She was surprised that I knew about the Pilgrimage and how every Quarian, regardless of age or gender went on this trip across the galaxy in hopes of finding something valuable that they can bring back to the Migrant Fleet. Everything else though was a lost cause to me. For starters, I did not remember why she always said 'Keelah' as if she were saying 'oh god' and when I calmly asked her this, mustering up the best puppy dog eyes that I could make, she laughed and gave in and told me that it meant that pretty much to Quarian's, but it held a deeper meaning.

Leaning back on the bench, I was about to relax and enjoy her company for a bit when trouble struck.

"Hey you! Yeah I'm talking to you bucket head!" came a mean, feminine voice. I groaned inwardly. This feminine voice was a particularly _UNWANTED _mean, feminine voice.

Turning to right, I saw a sight that made me groan even more. Kayla Akir. 5'7 of pure flirtatiousness, ignorance and racism put into one blond haired package. Kayla stormed up to within 5 feet of Lia and said, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing with MY man, Quarian?"

I sighed again. Kayla Akir was one of the most persistent bitches that I had ever had the misfortune of knowing. Four months ago, at the Dark Star club, Kayla had been getting harassed by this drunk old mercenary who thought that he was gods given gift to the world.

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FLASHBACK

"No, what don't you understand about me telling you to leave me the hell alone!" I heard a girl yell over the clubs incessant thumping music.

Craning my head across the booth to my left, there was this beautiful blond woman, angrily shaking her fist at the man in front of her.

"Awww, c'mon babe, don't be like that. I'm really good in bed and I pay a lot." He grinned with arrogance and confidence practically radiating from his form.

It was men like him that disgusted me to no end, second only to racist bigots. They think they have all of the cards in their hands and when they don't get what they want, they immediately resort to violence and intimidation. Geez, would it really hurt for them to try using charm instead bare-animal ferocity?

"Hey! Don't touch me-what are you-" _SLAP!_

The old mercs head rotated to the right, and there was a pause before he brought his head back to regular position, and calmly cracked his neck that I was sure everyone could hear. The Blond woman backed up slightly, but that was when the old merc spoke.

"Heh, so you like to play rough huh? Well that's good, cuz I love girls that give a fight." He practically snarled the last part and lunged forward with a surprising speed that caught the woman off-guard and enabled him to trap her wrists with his hand.

"Now… are you going to come along with me to my apartment quietly, or do I have to get dirty?" He let the threat hang in the air for a few moments. The woman's eyes widened slightly in fear and the man's smirk grew all the bigger.

'Aww screw this guy, I was itching for a fight anyway' I said more to myself than anyone as I got up from the booth, fed up with this merc already.

"Well…? What is it going to be?" He spoke in a tone that made my back crawl with shivers. I knew that tone, and what it meant. It usually meant rape if there was no cooperation.

"Screw you asshole!" the woman defiantly spat in the old mercs face. The mercs face grew angry at this, and as he cocked his fist back to hit her, he sighed. "Wrong choice." The woman gasped and shut her eyes tight and I was worried that I wouldn't make it in time.

Lunging forward with a speed that i surprised myself with, I surprised myself even more by effectively blocking his strike with my forearm, and breaking his grip on the woman with my other arm and then shoved him back with a quick ram of my shoulder.

The man grunted in surprise and stumbled back a few steps before catching himself. Looking straight at me with a glare that made me slightly nervous, he practically hissed his words at me. "Hey there hero, think you're a big shot do you? Well if your balls are as big as your fists, then come and have a go at me!" He taunted me, smirking and jeering me on with glares and insults. I unconsciously clenched my fist tight in anger, wanting to beat the ever living shit out of him. 'Bastard, don't get angry!' My subconscious yelled at me, but it was too late as I was already pissed.

Adopting into a small huddled stance, I let my left fist hang down to guard my lower body while my right fist was kept tight to my body in case I get the opportunity to lash out with strikes of my own. It was a stance that I taught myself, it focused on defensive and quick heavy strikes to put a target down if they left themselves open too long. "All right you bastard" I jeered as I started to advance on him, "Come and get some!"

Apparently, that was the magic word for the old merc as he suddenly charged at me with pure brute force, eyes gleaming with a sadistic murderous glee. Dodging backwards more out of surprise then reflex, I just barely managed to avoid his charge, and took a few steps back in case he tried to charge again.

During this short unofficial break, I briefly glanced around at the growing crowd around us that I hadn't even noticed was there a moment before. Men of all species; Human, Salarian, Krogan and even a few Quarian's were yelling and pumping their fists in the air, the adrenalin of watching a fight start to travel through their bodies. Some of the Asari and younger female Humans and Quarian's were slowly backing up, awed and scared at the sight before them. However, some of the older, more wilder Asari and Human females were screaming in excitement and lust at the scene before them, cat-calling and whistling. One thing however nagged me in my sub conscious until I finally realized what it was. 'Where were all the guards?' I thought to myself, however, all thoughts and ideas disappeared as the old merc slammed into me with all the force of a freight train while I was distracted.

I felt the breath leave my lungs as I hit the ground, and I was barely, just barely able to kick the merc off of me with my legs so I could get off the ground as soon as possible. When you're wrestling on the ground with someone, the winner is quickly and obviously shown dominant and usually victorious through brute strength, something that I sorely was outranked in against the old merc. I may have been young and quick, but he had strength and experience in his favour, probably having won in multiple hand-to-hand combat battles. Getting to his feet once more, he quickly charged at me, intent on bringing me to the floor again. Shifting my weight to my left foot, I prepared to jump out of the way of his charge and when he missed, I would drop a knee too his back and hopefully end the fight there. When he got within 4 feet of me, I sprang to left, but instead of going past me like I had planned, he suddenly shifted course and planted a kick right into my chest, sending me flying.

I hit the ground on my back, and slapping my hands down onto the ground, I managed to perform an awkward back roll and onto my feet. I had no time to recover though has he was immediately upon me, sending punch after kick at me with a ferociousness that only a Krogan could have. I had no chances to strike as I was forced to block his attacks in rapid succession, never leaving me an opening to attack. As our battle raged on, his attacks started to get noticeably slower, but I made the mistake of assuming they were losing power when he sent a wild hook right into my jaw. I felt something crack, but I did not stop to check for anything, as I was barely able to remain standing after been knocked senseless from that punch. Successfully managing to just barely ward off his attacks I finally caught a lucky break when he made a mistake. He sent a punch at my left and when I blocked that he punched at me with his other fist, leaving him wide open for attack, and I exploited that to my full advantage. Driving a knee into his gut, causing him to double over, I then jumped on my other leg, bringing it up with all my strength to ram it into his forehead. A solid crack resounded and his head snapped back from the impact, than leaning back, I suddenly lunged forward with all of my strength and drove and open palm strike right to his chin.

He rose into the air by about 6 inches, and then dropped to the ground with a loud thud. Settling back into a combat stance, I waited for another 5 seconds, and seeing no movement, I raised my arms into the air victoriously.

"Get some Bitch!" I roared, the excessive energy and adrenalin making me shake. It was only then that I noticed the sweat. I was COVERED in it, that I thought I was pouring sweat out of mini waterfalls. The men roared their approval and cheered for me, patting me on the back and shaking my hand as I passed them to sit back down at my booth. When I sat down, I noticed the beautiful blond woman who had been harassed by that merc start heading towards me. Smiling at me she said "Thank you! Thank you so much for helping me out there. I was sure that he was gonna hit me or worse, and then you rush in and come to my rescue like a guardian angel." She said the last part with a sigh, a blush gracing her cheeks.

"It was no problem. I could not let an asshole like him hit an innocent woman like you miss…?" I asked her, smiling gently at her to show that I meant it.

She giggled, and then said "Kayla Akir.

**END FLASHBACK**

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"Your man…?" Lia asked, confused as hell and curious.

Kayla sneered at Lia. "Yeah that's right, he is MY man. What, did you think a bucket head like you would have a chance with him? You're a Quarian, a goddamn thief, get out of my sight before I make you!" Kayla had started to shout and insult Lia, oblivious to the danger she was putting herself into.

I clenched my fists and ground my teeth together as rage flooded through me at the words Kayla was saying.

"Oh so, what? You can't find any object to steal so you try to steal OUR men now? You're pathetic!"

Lia visibly dropped her head, her entire body slumped forward as if in defeat… and her body started to shake. I was worried for a second that Lia might be mad and might hurt Kayla, even if I hated Kayla, I dint want to see her get hurt… but what she had said about Lia, and what she accused her of… it drove me to my very threshold of willpower and tolerance. I have never wanted to hurt someone like Kayla so badly, and yet she was a woman, and I didn't hit woman. However what Kayla said next focused me on one goal.

"Yeah that's right, cry you stupid thief, you deserve it you and your rotten species. Don't cry too much though Bucket Head, I don't want you to drown on me." Kayla taunted and smirked, obviously proud of herself right now, which made it even worse for me. 'Not only is she racist and make Lia cry, but she is also PROUD of herself right now? Look out below bitch, because bombs are away!' I stormed and seethed as I made my way over to Kayla, silent, and intent on making her pay. Finally noticing she turns around, and ignores Lia who is still crying and smiles at me.

"Can you believe that Bucket Head tried to hit on you? Unbelievable, we need to get rid of all of them… hey what are you doing?" She questions me, stepping slightly back in fear as I raise my arm and clench my hand into a fist.

I smirked at the fear in her eyes and let out a low growl… I don't know why but I did, and it seemed to scare the hell out of her. "What does it look like I'm doing? I asked her in a sarcastic voice, slowly stepping towards her.

I turn my eyes and I notice that Lia has stopped crying and is right now watching what is happening in front of her with intense expressions… so many that I can't tell WHAT she is feeling right now.

"Hey calm down, I didn't mean any of it, I swear it" she babbles but I ignore her and continue to advance on her slowly. "Hey come on, were friends right?" She is getting more desperate and I can tell it. I meet her question with silence but I step up my pace abit.

Stumbling back now, she all but screams when she hits a wall behind her. Turning around quickly, once she reassures herself that it is just a wall behind her, she turns towards me only to gasp and squeak in surprise as I am 2 feet in front of her.

Smiling sadistically, I pull my arm back, and am about to punch her when she yells out. "You can't hit me, I'm a woman!"

Frowning to myself, I slowly lower my arm, thinking to myself 'Damn she has me there. Oh wait, there's always that comeback….'

Speaking in a low voice I admit "Your right, I can't hit you has a woman…" She smirks and gains a complete look of arrogance on her face. "…However…" Her smirk vanishes. "I can hit you as a racist bitch!" I all but roar out the last part and drive my fist into her face.

Her head snaps back and hits the wall where it rebounds slightly, and almost immediately she crumpled to the ground unmoving, her chest still rising and falling however.

Snorting to myself in self-satisfaction and disgust, I gingerly rub my knuckles as I step over her body.

Lia just stands there, staring at me with an intensity that makes me kinda nervous, like it was the kind of stare that could be where she is either wondering how to praise you first as a hero, while at the same it could be the stare where she could be planning to rip my head from my shoulders. It also didn't help that she had her mask on, which made it impossible to read her facial expressions, leaving the only thing for me to stare at were her beautiful silver eyes that seemed to glow with the very essence of life itself.

After 1 minute of uncomfortable silence, I cannot take it anymore. "Lia, did I do something too-oof!" I started to speak, but was cut off when Lia threw herself at me and wrapped her arms tightly around my shoulders and neck, clutching to me like a drowning man would a life buoy and she starts sobbing into my shoulder.

My heart went out to Lia at that moment, a moment of tenderness and compassion that I had not felt in a long time, ever since I came here. How could she continue? Discriminated everywhere just because she was a Quarian and insulted everywhere else. She deserved something good in her life, and I would try to help her find it, if not give it.

Her breaths were short and ragged as she tried to get her crying under control, "I-I am so s-s-sorry f-f-for everything, please d-don't hate me p-p-lease!" She cried out, begging for my forgivness.

'Poor girl, she gets insulted and then mocked at, and then when I throw a punch at a bitch and she needs my shoulder to cry on, she then begs for my forgiveness? Never will she have to beg for something from me.' I muse to myself as she continues to cry and cling to my armour.

Putting on and on the back of the neck and the other on her back, I pull her close to me and start rubbing circles into her suit, hoping she feels it, even as I whisper comforting words into where he ear would be.

"It's ok Lia, its ok, you don't need my forgiveness for you never needed it, its ok, I'm here for you." I whisper soothingly to her, which makes her hug me even tighter.

'Poor girl'…

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Hey guys whats up? First off i would like to thank each and everyone of you readers and Special thanks to all of you reviewers. Seriously, 12 Reviews for 1 chapter in 3 days? You have no idea how happy yu made me :)

Second off, my character WILL be interacting with Shepard and his team, but not as in he will steal Shepards thunder, no in fact he will get off LONG before Shepard goes through the Omega-4 Relay.

So please dont discontinue reading this, Please bear with me. and yes... there will be lemons and to my friend who requested it, I will try to make it graphical but not too graphical. And im celebrating my longest chapter yet! 3095 words and thats not including the authors note or disclaimer. Thanks again everyone and a Happy New Year! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Mass Effect or anything Mass Effect related. Mass Effect belongs to Bio ware. All OC's belong to me

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'Lia must have had a lot of pent up stress, frustration and sorrow to cry like that. NO ONE cries like that on a regular basis. I bet she is going to be a stone cold bitch when she wakes up.' I chuckle to myself at that last point, because it was true, the longer you hold everything in and let it build up, the bigger the release. Lia had fallen asleep in my arms near one of the old restaurants we went too, I forget what it was called but the Turian shopkeeper there had apparently just watched the whole spectacle of Kayla insulting Lia up to where I socked her in the face. He had clapped a hand on my shoulder and said "You just gave me the best free fun I have seen in a long time." I nodded my thanks to him, and then gathering Lia up in my arms like one would a bride, I started to head towards where my apartment was. It would not work, but at least I could work to try to find a place where she could rest in a relatively safe zone.

When I got down to the Zakera wards, I was immediately happy, happy that I knew where and when everything ran down here. Living here down in the Zakera wards, you learn 3 rules that no one can break, and if they are broken… well the luckiest you can get off with is too have your arm chopped off. Unluckiest? I could still here the agonized cries of pain from the man who had been spaggetified as they called it. The three rules are simple. Don't target ones family. Don't use family as a bribe. And finally, don't kill unless you're defending yourself. I had yet to break any of the rules, but for me it was only a matter of time as life here on the Citadel sucked when you were below the glorified Presidium.

Walking through the numerous halls and corridors, I received many weird stares as I traveled through to the lower districts of the Zakera ward. I guess they were not used to seeing a Quarian down here, let alone an unconscious Quarian that was being carried by a heavily armed Human. I sighed too myself, wondering where and what I was going to do with Lia. Taking her back to my 7 foot by 7 foot room was out of the question, as there was barely enough room for me and having her there would just be awkward and uncomfortable.

Walking by a small motel, I looked in and noticed that there was one room left open, judging by how all of the boards lights that indicated rooms were lit up red except for one that was a solid green. Walking in, with my arms slightly aching from carrying Lia, I set her down on a nearby bench and then took a quick look around. The motel was not cheap, but was not high up by any standards. It seemed to me that this would be a modest place to stay for the night, so eying a lone Volus attendant at the front desk, I walked up to him and leaned on the counter, waiting for him to notice me.

I heard him mumble and grumble along the lines of 'need just one more' but the rest was lost on me. Finally turning around, he jumped abit, startled by my sudden appearance there without him noticing.

Quickly gaining control, he said to me "Ah hello there Earth-Clan, may I help you with something? If you are looking for a room, we have one room left available, only 50 credits a night."

Nodding my head in assent to his question, I replied "Yes I am looking for a room tonight, unfortunately though I do not have enough credits to pay for it. Is there some other service I can provide to enable my companion to stay in the room tonight?" I asked, and it was true. I only had 40 credits left, and that would barely pay for 2 days food and water.

The Volus looked around abit before eying up my weapons, as if he needed something.

"Well Earth-Clan, it turns out there is an alternate way you can pay, but it is dangerous. You seem armed and armoured enough so I will tell you what I need. I have a bounty on my head, from the Blue Suns mercenaries, and I fear that they will be coming tonight to claim it. If you could stand guard over the motel for the night and make sure they don't get near me, I would gladly let your companion stay in the room for tonight." He urgently spoke to me, looking around as if someone were watching him.

Pausing for a minute I said with finality "Throw in 100 credits and you got yourself a deal" putting my hand out for him to shake.

He hesitated for a moment before shaking my hand and agreed "Deal. Your room is 231and is just down the hall here." He said sweeping his arm behind him and handing me a keycard.

Nodding my thanks to him I went over to Lia and picking her up gently I started to head towards where the room was located at the end of the hallway. The Volus seemed abit surprised and confused at Lia as she was a Quarian and I was carrying her, but he didn't say anything about it which was a wise business decision on his part. As I was walking, I heard a mumbled voice and realized it was coming from Lia. She mumbled some more before she clung tightly to me, and I just couldn't help but admire at how cute she was at that moment.

'Heh, she is so cute right now, I imagine that if I told her about this in the morning she would be embarrassed or yell at me.'

Arriving at the end of the hallway, I awkwardly slid the keycard in with one hand and then the door slid open with a ping, granting me access. Stepping into the room, I immediately walked into the room and set Lia down on the single bed, positioning her head on the pillow and laying her feet in the middle. She grumbled at bit more in her sleep before she latched onto the pillow and clutched it tightly to her chest. Once again, I chuckled at how cute she looked and then I looked towards the single table with a light on it. Taking off my weapons one at a time and putting them on the table, I then proceeded to sit down in the chair and inspect my weapons. Everything was in perfect working condition, but I inspected my weapons out of force of habit. I remembered one Turian saying to me that 'Weapons and machines break. Eyes don't.'

After checking all of my weapons and slipping them onto my back, I then activated my kinetic barriers and hearing the audible hum of the armour activating, I took one last look at Lia before stepping out of the room. The door's holographic display changed from green to red, indicating that it was locked. Taking a deep breath, I then proceeded to tell the Volus that I was ready and braced myself for what could turn out to be a firefight.

* * *

5 hours later

It was about 1:00Am, 5 hours since I have posted myself on top op of the motels roof, as a sentry and a guard. There had been no signs of any Blue Suns mercs yet and I was beginning to think that tonight would turn out to be fairly uneventful. Lowering the night vision binoculars from my eyes, I sighed to myself in boredom and suspense. I was getting tired, and I desperately wanted to sleep, but I kept reminding myself that to fall asleep out in the open down in the lower Zakera wards was practically a death sentence.

'It's only too true as well. I remember that Batarian that had all of his money and belongings stolen from him after he had fell asleep in the streets, and to add injury to insult, he had had both of his kneecaps shot out. Poor bastard' I thought to myself, feeling sorry for him but applying the mistake he made and ensuring that I never made it.

Letting out an explosive sigh, I checked my M-15 Vindicator Battle Rifle for any defects for the hundredth time that night. I let out another sigh as I set the weapon down in front of me and buried my face into my hands. There were no defects on any of my weapons or armour and I knew that, I just wished there was so I could have something to do other than just sitting here with nothing to do.

Hearing what sounded like voices nearing my area, I slowly popped my head out from my perch and looked in the general direction that the voices were coming from. Unable to see anything from the darkness that smothered the area in an ominous cloud, I raised the night vision binoculars slowly towards my eyes. What I saw made my jaw drop in surprise and shock. There in the darkness, probably about 100 meters away was a platoons worth of Blue Sun mercs with all types of weapons, including even a grenade launcher and a missile launcher.

Ducking back down behind the roofs ledge, I grumbled angrily to myself "Of course, of course they would be at platoon numbers, of course they would attack when I'm tired and of course they would have a motherfucking missile launcher!"

Slowly rising back up once more, I found out that they were close enough for me to see without night-vision. Taking in the calculations, I found out that they were only 100 feet away.

"Aww shit!" I cursed, and grabbing my Battle Rifle, I propped it up on the ledge and sighted down the scope. The distance indicator read about 20 meters away, which was too close for comfort, so looking around a bit, I let my sights rest on the merc with the grenade launcher. Taking a deep breath and holding it, I waited a second before I pulled the trigger. _Drr-drr-drr!_ The three round burst caught the merc in the chest, throwing him to the ground and causing red blood to pool around him. The other mercenaries stopped and dived for cover, what little cover there was. _Drr-drr-drr! _My next burst hit a Batarian mercenary who was too far away from cover to dive to safety.

"Where the fuck is he?" one of the human mercs yelled before he was silenced by a burst from my rifle that caught him in the head. _Drr-drr-drr!_ Blood and brain matter exploded from out behind his head and coloured the ground and a nearby merc in a dark red spray.

"There! I see him!" one of the Turian's yelled out before spraying the roof with automatic weapons fire.

I ducked down to avoid the smattering of rounds just in time as a second later the roar and barks of automatic weapons rang out in the air, and white hot mass-field accelerated slugs chipped away at the ledge.

"Fuck!" I yelped in surprise, completely pinned down by the withering hail of bullets that bombarded my position.

I was unable to return fire because I would be peppered with bullets the instant I stood up. Waiting for what seemed like an eternity which in fact was only 5 seconds, the bullets finally stopped as the mercs paused to reload. Immediately rising back up, I aimed my sights at the rocket launched wielding merc and pulled the trigger after which I immediately ducked back down. _Drr-drr-drr! _The human cried out in pain and fell forwards, incapacitated, however at the same time; she was also triggering the rocket to fire. _Phwooosh!_ The rocket flew forward and collided in the ground near a squad of the Blue Suns. Immediately, an ear splitting crack filled the air and dust, shrapnel and bloody limbs flew through the air. All the other hostiles stopped for a second to see what happened and that was when I stood up, taking advantage of the distraction. _Drr-drr-drr! Drr-drr-drr! _Two bursts from my battle rifle were sufficient enough to put two mercs down, and that was when all hell broke loose. I looked up and down at the mercs, and what I saw made my heart nearly stop. One of the mercs had grabbed the fallen missile launcher and was now aiming right at me.

"Oh fuck!" I yelled and vaulted myself off of the roof just as the missile screamed past me and destroyed the position I had been in just seconds ago in a roiling fire cloud and a explosion.

As I was falling, I was hit in the back with a red hot sledgehammer and was propelled to the ground. As I hit the ground, I could feel the bones in my legs break and the pain that followed made me cry out in agony.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrg! God fucking damnit!" I yelled out in agony, clutching my legs with my arms

I could see the mercenaries approaching, could see my death coming, but I would resist death for as long as I could. Pulling out my Carnifex Hand Cannon, I cursed at them "Come on! Come get some you bastards!" firing off a volley of shots at the three mercs in the front I gritted my teeth in pain. _Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! _The men dropped dead in front of the, the rounds having torn through their chests and shredding the organs within. The next thing I felt was something I would never forget. As I proceeded to reload my pistol, a merc with a shotgun fired at me. _BANG! _The pellets from the shotgun took my right arm off, and I could only watch in what seemed to be slow motion as the arm flew off with shards of bone and drops of blood flying through the air. I fell into shock on the ground and the last thing I saw and heard, was a bunch of gunfire, followed by a voice I did not recognize. The world turned black and it sounded to me like I was hearing a sound at the end of a large tunnel.

"Hmm, going into shock. Losing too much blood! Shock from loss of limb. Don't know if I can save!"

"Try Mordin. Do anything you can to save this man's life!"

After that, everything went silent, and the sweet cool presence of death that I had denied for so long rushed in to take me.

* * *

Hey Guys! Chapter 3 is here! Is Alex going to be ok. Is he going to live. Those are questions that you will have to stay tuned for to find out.

Just so all of you know, i changed the size of Alex`s apartment because i realized how small it was. Lol.

Anyways, if there is someone out there who could draw Alex and Lia or photoshop it, if you could hit me up with an offer and show me what you got, i would post it on my profile and give Full and solecredit to you. Thanks everyone! Have a happy new year!


	4. Chapter 4

All I could feel was pain. Indescribable amounts of pain that made me scream in agony and thrash and convulse. I heard a moniter somewhere, the beeps so fast that it almost sounded like it was just one long note. I also heard a voice, and it sounded like it was inside my head, but also like it was coming out at the end of a large tunnel.

"Dr. Chakwas, come quick, subject showing signs of outside stimulation!"

"What? That can't be possible! He is sedated with enough morphine to knock-out a Krogan!" came a motherly- female voice, frantic and disbelieving.

Soon a shadow descended over me and my vision immediately sharpened. A human female, with blond hair and a weary, concerned face hovered over me and put her hand on my face.

"There, there, please, you must remain calm!" She spoke urgently, frantic on getting me to calm down, but I couldn't.

The fire that pulsed near my shoulder and my legs grew to an excruciating level, so much that I let out a blood curdling scream of suffering and pain. I just wanted to die, to go back to the eternal sleep that was death that had so readily taken me. In the background through all of the pain that had gripped hold of my body and squeezed tight, a shrill high pitched scream was heard.

"Sedate him! Sedate him! His vitals are pushing the red-zone, his heart is going to burst!" The woman cried, disappearing from my line of sight to somewhere I could not see.

I felt something get injected into my arm, and then felt a numbing sensation spread from my arm to the rest of my body. The pain near my right shoulder and the pain in my legs immediately cooled and disappeared, leaving me in a semi-conscious state. Everything started to blur and once again I started to hear out of a tunnel.

"Heart rate falling, blood pressure levels lowering, subject once again normal." A voice sounded off to my left, it sounded strangely familiar to the one I heard before I lost consciousness on the Citadel.

"Good, we nearly lost him" the woman came into view and rested a hand on my face. "There child, just relax. Sleep…. Just sleep…."

I never finished hearing what she was going to say as the world before my eyes went dark and my bruised body refused to work without rest any more. I closed my eyes, and was asleep before my head rested on the table.

* * *

**Unknown amount of time later**

Another hollowed voice burst through the silence of which I was in, disturbing my sleep and causing me to groan.

"Subject is starting to wake up, recommend keep him restrained for safety. Ours and his." That hyper voice was starting to make me curious has to who was talking, and as I opened my eyes, with a painful groan, i immediately slammed my lids shuts as the bright light seared my eyeballs.

"He is restrained, but he might thrash, get ready to sedate him if he won't cooperate." The woman's voice sounded off near my right, and I opened my eyes more slowly and carefully this time.

When my vision sharpened and my hearing restored, I tried to move my arms and legs only to find myself restrained by a stasis field.

"What the fuck?" I shouted, squirming and trying to break free.

"Hey, hey calm down. It's ok, you're alright." The woman said to me, her voice doing wonders to my worries and I surprisingly calmed down.

Looking around the room I was in, I surmised that I was in a Medbay, and so I asked to confirm on where the heck I was.

"Where am I? What the hell happened?" I groggily asked, taking a look at the Salarian that was hovered over by one of the tables, frantically typing away at his Omni-tool. He looked up to me momentarily with an intense look of interest and mumbled something I did not catch before turning his attention back to his Omni-tool. Judging by his looks and the clothes that he wore, plus his impressive intense concentration on what he was working on, I would have to say that he was a professor. That question was very quickly answered by the woman.

"Professor Mordin? I will handle the patient; you may go back to the science lab to continue on with your studies. Thanks very much for your help." She more ordered than asked, but there was an interesting tone behind her voice that I could not place.

"I will tell you what happened, but you must remain calm" She informed me, and I nodded and braced myself for what was too come.

During your fight down in the Zakera Wards on the Citadel, you had both of your legs shattered into multiple fragments, which we managed to piece together with a Heavy bone weave and advanced medical technology so you will be able to walk again with no problems, but…." She trailed off, looking slightly guilty and uncertain.

The alarms started going off in my head and screamed at me that something was wrong. I didn't know if I wanted to know what she was going to say, but I had to, I had to know what happened.

Swallowing the cold lump in my throat, I mustered up all of my courage and asked her "Doctor? What happened? What is wrong?"

She looked at me with a hint of a grimace appearing on her face and sympathy in her eyes. "Your arm was… shredded off of you by a shotgun blast. We tried to re-attach it, but we were unable to repair the damage, instead we fixed a prosthetic arm into place." Doctor Chakwas all but whispered to me, and with a fright that made my heart beat faster, I looked at my right arm and almost recoiled in surprise.

There, in place of my good old natural flesh and bone arm, was a shiny metallic arm in its place. I gaped in shock and disbelief as I tried to move my arm, and it responded with making any sounds, bending and moving like a regular arm. I was scared of this arm and did not know what to do or how to react. It was just so… alien on my body. Breathing deeply to try and control my growing sense of panic, I gingerly reached out with my left arm and felt it. It was cool, metallic and instead of feeling the warmth from my fingers on my arm, I felt nothing. Cold, dead, alien.

Turning towards the doctor, I asked her "Doctor… what…what." I trailed off, to overwhelmed and confused to think properly.

Stepping towards me and laying a reassuring hand on my arm, she spoke softly to me "I know this must be difficult and hard for you to absorb, but we did all that we could. Hell, with how much blood you lost, you are lucky that you are even alive right now. You were even dead for a while when the Commander brought you here."

Nodding to her words, I once again looked back to the robotic arm and felt repulsed by the sight of it. I was a human, flesh and bone, metal is not natural and I could not help but instinctively shy away from it.

"Doctor… how am I going to manage? I can't feel anything with this arm, I won't be able to properly hold a rifle or a knife without feeling what I am holding. Fighting is all I know how to do.." I trailed off and frowned, looking at the floor.

'What the hell am I going to do now? I don't know any particular skill that can get me a job and without a job the credits won't roll in and I will be unable to pay for food or water. I will die, cold and alone in this godforsaken galaxy.' I mused to myself, getting swallowed into my own self pitying.

"Well…" Doctor Chakwas cleared her throat "You actually WILL be able to fight or hold a weapon. There are photo-nerve receptors in the fingertips of new your arm that can pick up slight tremors of pressure and translate into the sense of touch." She chirped happily at me, seeming to be quite pleased with herself.

Holding my breath, I focused on clenching my hand into a fist and gradually squeezed it tighter and tighter. I thought it was a lost cause when I felt something that made my mind go blank. Not daring to believe what I thought I just felt, I clenched my hand again until-there! I felt a tiny amount of pressure on my fingers, making me gasp in surprised, albeit pleased, shock.

"As you use your arm more, you will start to feel more and more pressure easier. Also, your new arm is made of a new alloy used on Alliance warships, which means anything short of a missile launcher won't even remotely harm it." Chakwas breathed excitedly beside me, eyeing me with a curiosity that unnerved me.

Before I could ask her what was wrong, she beat me to the punch, by asking me a question. "Now, I looked up your name from the name that the Quarian girl Lia'Vael told me, and after extensive research I could not find ANY information on your past from the last two years."

I was going to open my mouth to lie- and hopefully placate her- but she saw this and countered. "Don't try to deny it, I know that your past is not hidden by black ink because EDI could have hacked it." Leaning closer to me, she spoke in a near whisper. "I want to know who you are, and I want to know the truth. Your words won't leave this room." She reassured me in way that was almost motherly, and I had to fight back tears as I suddenly remembered my family back at home.

'Do they think I am dead? Oh god, how has mom held up these past two years? God, I just wish that I could see her again, just one last time.' I choked back a sob before it could rise from my chest and then bringing my head up to look at the doctor, I fixed her with an intense gaze.

"All right. What do you want to know?" I asked of her.

* * *

**2 Hours later**

After telling her about my whole story and how I got here and how I have survived for the last two years, I let my head droop and waited for her reaction. It would either be disbelief or untrust and she would tell the Commander where I would be kicked off the ship, or she would believe me, and I could continue my life on the citadel.

"…. I don't believe you, but I don't disbelieve you either. I need some time to think about this. Please, go see the Commander on the bridge. He wants to talk too you." Chakwas breathed, sitting down in the chair and rubbing her temples.

'Shit!' was my only thought.

Remaining silent, I just walked through the door of the medbay, and entered what looked to be the dining area of the ships crew. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned too look at me, gazes settling one, but mostly the arm. I felt nervous around them, but I did not let it show, as that would make me appear weak.

Looking at what seemed to be the cook, I turned to him asked my question. "Do you know where I can find the Commander of this ship?" I asked him.

He only gazed past me as if he hadn't heard me, and I was about to ask him again, when a voice behind me startled me.

"Alex? Is that you?" a synthesized female voice came from behind me.

Turning around, I looked at the speaker and a smile almost immediately spread across my face at who I saw. Lia'Vael.

"Hey Lia. How are y-oof!" I attempted to greet Lia but was promptly interrupted by having the air rushed out of me as she grasped me into a hug and squeezed tight enough that I thought my ribs would break. "Lia… can't… breathe!" I choked out, and just before I was about to pass out she let go of me.

"Alex! Are you okay? I was so worried that you would get hurt when I woke up from the gunfire! And your arm! What happened to it? Why do you have a robotic arm?" She asked all of these questions in what seemed like one breath.

I was about to reply when out of nowhere, her hand met my face and knocked my head to the right.

'She slapped me!' I said to myself in my mind, surprised more than stunned at her sudden change in moods and how quickly they had been achieved.

Turning my head back to it's proper position, I looked at Lia and was confused at what I saw. The silver shining eyes behind her visor were narrowed almost into slits. Her whole body was rigid, her back straight and her hands clenched into fists. I may not have known why she was, but I could DEFINITELY tell what she was. She was PISSED

"You stupid bosh'tet! You could have gotten yourself killed! What the hell were you thinking! If you died, I would have lost my only friend outside of the Migrant Fleet!" She shouted at me, and I could see that she was trying to control herself from hitting me again.

I opened my mouth to explain my actions to her, but I shut up as she hugged me fiercely almost immediately after she had just finished yelling at me. Letting out my question as a confused grunt, she then whispered to me in a sorrowful tone.

"You couldn't just leave me there. You just can't almost get yourself killed like that. If you died…. I don't know what I'd do." She whispered the last part so quietly that I was surprised I even heard it.

Hugging her back tightly, I didn't say anything, just enjoying her company. That was until I opened my eyes, and found the gazes of over 10 crew members staring at us. Breaking apart from Lia, I tried to explain what just happened without making myself look like an idiot.

"I… uhh… it's not what it looks like" I stammered, quickly feeling the heat rush to my face as I started to blush.

One of the crewmembers spoke up and what he said made the entire deck roar with laughter and made me blush even more.

"Yeah, it just did not look like you two were a married couple bickering over small matters"

I just wanted to crawl into a corner and hide, I was that embarrassed.

"Keelah…" Lia grumbled, and I was pretty sure that she was blushing under her helmet as well.

Then all of a sudden the laughter stopped and everyone snapped to attention. Curious to what was the meaning of their behaviour, I turned around and what I saw almost made my heart stop.

"Glad to see your up, you took one hell of a beating. Sorry, where are my manners, I am Commander John Shepard and welcome aboard the SR-2 Normandy."

* * *

Hey guys, it's me and im back with a new chapter! I am sorry for taking so long, school had me bogged down but nontheless, I did not forget about you guys. If this chapter is crap, i believe you, it fel like crap to me when i was editing it but this is the only way i could go with the story without F-ing it up royally.

Anyways guys you know the drill. Read and for the love of god, review!

PLEASE REVIEW!


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Mass Effect. Mass Effect belongs to BioWare as well as do its characters. OC's belong to their respectful people/authors. Story belongs to me.**

* * *

I could not believe what I was seeing right now. Standing in front of me, alive and breathing, was THE Commander Shepard. 'How? How the hell is this possible?' How is he alive?' my mind screamed at me, causing me to tense and stiffen in surprise and shock. My body must have voiced what was raging through my head right now, because Shepard immediately chuckled, albeit a grim chuckle.

"Yeah, I did die, but I was brought back to life. I am not going to explain."

Gaping even more, it was not until Lia put her hand under my chin and closed my jaw that made my teeth clack that I realized that I had been starring at Commander Shepard completely slack-jawed.

Stuttering until I composed myself, it was only then that I blurted out, " C-Commander Shepard? But- how – wait –died – you?" I stuttered, absolutely sell shocked that Commander Shepard was standing in front of me and alive, not rotting in an unmarked grave or something grisly like that.

Shepard just grinned at me in amusement before he replied "Like I said, I died, but I am not going to explain how I am here right now."

I just continued to stare at him, until the intercom overhead crackled into life and made me jump.

"Commander, the two Cerberus operatives wish to speak with you in the briefing room right now. Apparently they also want you to bring our new guest up there as well. It has something to do that concerns him."

_Oh Shit, shit, shit!_

I mentally began to panic, feeling my heart begin to pound harder and faster. Instinctively, I tensed up as if waiting to either attack or make an escape.

"All right Joker, we will be up there right away." Shepard spoke with a serious tone in his voice, one that left no doubt that right now he was pure business.

Glancing back to Lia and I, he looked back and forth between the two of us before he addressed Lia.

"Miss Lia'Vael, I must attend to some duties right now. You are either welcome to continue staying here, or you may tour the engine core room if you wish." He spoke to Lia, with only the faintest hint of amusement in his eyes.

As he said engine core, I could visibly see Lia perk up, as she stood straighter and fixed Shepard with an intense look.

She looked at me for reassurance, and I only shrugged to her. It was her choice after all and I wasn't going to decide on what she could and couldn't do.

Lia glanced shyly at Shepard before stuttering slightly. "I-if it is no problem, I would like to tour the engine core." She looked down at her feet as if expecting a barking reprimand.

Shepard just chuckled quietly to himself before he called over a woman named Gabby. "Take Lia here down to the engine core, show her around a little." He ordered, glancing swiftly at Lia.

The woman saluted and said "Yes sir!"

The woman Gabby nodded to Lia and together they walked to the elevator already discussing engineering and technobabble in excited voices. I just couldn't help but chuckle at that small display and to my surprise, I heard Shepard chuckle as well.

"Ahh, Quarian's, talking about and viewing an engine core with the same enthusiasm as a little boy unwrapping a present on Christmas day." He rumbled before glancing over at me.

It was only when I was this close to him that I realized how tall he actually was. He was at least 3 inches taller than me, and his face held a rugged, weary yet warm feeling. As if he could be your best friend or your worst enemy, depending on where your loyalties lay. He had a powerfully built body, and he was obviously strong as his biceps could be seen rippling even beneath the fabric of the uniform he was wearing. Overall, I did NOT want to piss him off.

Nodding his head towards the elevator, he smiled at me before saying "Come on, let's get going. The sooner that we get up there, the sooner we can figure out what our friends have found that is so interesting about you."

When we got to the elevator and entered, Shepard pressed a button that had the label of CIC marked above it.

Suddenly, the words, _Combat Information Centre_ flashed through my mind. After that, everything went blank for a bit. I don't remember what had honestly happened, but the next thing that I remember, was walking into a small room and staring at the cold, grim faces of a man and woman.

Shepard stepped up behind me and asked "Miranda, Jacob, what seems to be the problem?"

The woman, Miranda, stepped up and spoke. "Shepard, there is a little problem with our guest here."

_What?_

"Our guest here, is named Alex Babik, or rather Lieutenant Commander Alex Babik." She all but practically hissed the last part, her voice dripping with untrust and anger.

"Alex Babik is listed as a Biotic Adept, having been listed as the most powerful biotic in the Alliance military. He was a respected war hero in the Alliance military, having been one of the few who resisted the Batarian slave traders during the Skyllium Blitz. He rallied and commanded two squads of Alliance Marines near an emergency bunker where over 4 dozen civilians were hiding, leading the men and woman under his command to victory against the Batarian's, battle after battle for over 3 hours. In the end, none of the marines or civilians was killed, but Alex Babik was wounded after diving over a grenade and covering it with his body to shield some of his marines. He was supposedly so injured, that he was declared clinically dead for 10 minutes until someone noticed that he was breathing. The last thing that he had said before he was whisked away to an Alliance Military hospital was to an civilian news reporter when she asked why he had dove over the grenade, was that 'It was either them or me, seemed like an easy choice.' He was rewarded the Terra Star for his heroic actions." Jacob rattled off, eyebrows rising slightly at the information, but still stoic.

Shepard turned to me and gave me a cold, hard calculating look, one that I could not decipher. Once Jacob said Terra Star, a memory played back in my head.

* * *

**_Flashback_**

_I was standing in front of an admiralty board, with holo-cameras snapping pictures of me and recording me on live tv. One of the Admirals standing snapped to attention and yelled "Attention!"_

_Everyone grew quiet as one of the Admirals started to march over towards me, his face an impassive block of chiseled stone, for all the emotion it held. Admiral Hackett. Stopping by me, he saluted me and I snapped off one of the finest salutes I had ever given. Lowering his arm, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small undecorated box. Handing it over to me, he said "Lieutenant, the Terra Star is awarded to those who have faced certain death and impossible odds and yet, did not back down but rather faced the threat head on. For your actions on Elysium, where, you alongside 14 other Marines, defended over 50 civilians against impossible odds and risked your own life to protect your marines, the Alliance Military awards you this medal and you are hereby promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. We are very lucky to have you Commander._

**_Flashback end_**This memory passed by me and once it ended, I felt a bit wobbly. I was about to walk forwards, when my legs gave out on me and I watched in seemingly slow motion as the floor came up to greet me. However, instead of receiving a hard unforgiving blow of metal to the face, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and haul me back up.

* * *

"Whoa, you okay there?" Shepard immediately asked me, leaning me against the wall and hovering over me in case something happened.

I tried to make heads and tails of what I had just heard and seen. Biotic? War Hero? I wasn't any of those things…. And yet, I had a nagging feeling like I knew that they were true.

"I….I…. can't remember. It doesn't sound true but…. there's a feeling that's telling me that all of this is true." I all but whispered the last part. My head was screaming in pain, like something was trying to break free out of my mind.

"Wait, there's more." Miranda said. "EDI has uncovered some black-inked information about our Alex Babik here. A couple of months after Alex had recovered from his injuries and been reassigned back into active duty, Alex had just been in a mission debriefing, when one of the officers had called him back inside. He had done so, but what he found was gruesome. His superiors wanted him to execute a young human girl, about the age of 16, for acts of vandalism, sabotage and treason. He refused to do so, as he was confused for there had been no girl in there before. There was in fact a small hidden passage. When he refused to do so, one of the officers pulled out a pistol, put it to the girls head and pulled the trigger. Alex Babik had then gone on a Biotic rampage, killing every single officer in the room, which included a Admiral, a Major, 2 Colonels and a General, as well as killing and injuring over 40 other Alliance Marines, before being tranquilized and restrained.

I winced when I heard this, as another memory flashed inside of my head.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

"_Excuse me sir?" I said, completely baffled at what I had just heard._

"_You heard me Commander, I want you to execute this girl here right now, for committing acts of sabotage, vandalism and treason." The Admiral ordered me, his face set in a mask of stone._

_I stumbled backwards as if I had just been punched. Execute. They wanted me to execute a 16 year old girl. This was unbelievable and sickening. How could they order me to kill a 16 year old girl that is defenseless?_

"_Screw you Admiral! I am not executing a defenseless prisoner!" I yelled at the Admiral, feeling my anger rise at this._

_Looking over towards the young girl, I could see that she was indeed 16. Her long hair had been cut short and her clothes were dirty, as if she had been crawling around and living in dirty places for a while. Her face held a surprising amount of beauty for one her age but the thing that choked me the most was her eyes. Although her eyes held defiance and anger in them, which made me believe without a doubt, she committed these crimes. However, her eyes held unshed tears and barely concealed terror. She was practically pissing her pants in fear and she was only 16 years old. Sickening. _

"_Oh well, she still has to die so, General?" The Admiral nodded towards the General._

_The General nodded, and going behind the young girl, he pulled out his Predator heavy pistol sidearm, pointed it at her head and pulled the trigger._

_Bang!_

_The mass accelerated slug entered and exited the young girls head in a messy spray that painted the ground with a deep blood red color. I could only numbly gaze in shock at what had once been a living girl. Not even a few seconds ago, she had been a living breathing 16 year old girl with hopes and dreams. Now, she was just another lifeless corpse, a corpse because someone with power decided that she should die. Dead. Never to breath, laugh, run, make love and love ever. Forever she would now remain just another corpse, a product of a corrupted man with power. A corrupted man that must die!_

_Seeing the young girls brains and blood splattered on the ground caused something inside of me to snap, as the white-hot rage that had been building over this small incident inside of me finally broke free. With a loud and feral roar of rage and sorrow, I flared my biotics and grabbed the Admiral in a merciless, crushing grip. Flinging my hand towards him, I sent a blast of biotic energy at him that blew him into the wall with so much force that I could hear his spine snap._

_Immediately turning to my right, I flung my hand out and caught the two colonels in a heavy slam. They flew into the air, and then came down with such force that the metal floor dented beneath them. The sound of their crunching bones was sweet music to my ears and I could feel my blood pounding through my veins. The Major quickly pulled out his pistol and shot at me, but his aim was sloppy and rushed, and he missed me by a few good inches. That was all the time I needed to draw my own Predator heavy pistol and fire 3 consecutive rounds into his chest. The Major dropped to the ground without a sound, blood flowing from his mouth and the gaping holes in his chest._

_Finally, I shifted my cold murderous gaze towards the General and smiled. His face showed a flicker of fear as I stalked towards him, and I could see his hand twitch slightly. Immediately, without conscious thought, I erected a biotic barrier and was rewarded for my trouble as the Generals hand whipped up, pistol in hand and fired. The slug was stopped by the barrier and that was when I made my move._

_With a snarl of feral rage, I caught the General in my biotic grip and held him defenseless in the air, my biotics flaring so brightly across my body that I could have passed as a blue Christmas tree. _

"_So General, I am hereby charging you with the unlawful murder of an 16 year old girl. This crime is punishable by death. How do you plead, General?" I questioned the General in a sadistic voice that dripped with hate._

_The Generals eyes were as wide as dinner plates when what I said had finally registered inside the small wrinkled raisin that was the Generals sad excuse for a brain. _

"_Oh my god, oh my god, shit. We can work this out, come on what is it, credits, woman, fame? We can work this out." He pleaded and bargained with me, the fear evident in his shaking voice._

_I grinned at the General wickedly before replying "No General, I want vengeance for that young girl and justice for the wicked!" I barked at him, already contemplating on how to kill him in the most painful matter possible._

"_Soldier, I am ordering you to stand down at once. You cannot kill me!" The General yelled at me in defiance, veins bulging out on his forehead and neck._

_I ground my teeth together in anger and hate. This man- no, this __**monster**__ had to die. And I was going to see to I that he did die._

_Leaning in close to him, I spoke quietly "Well, General, I never have been much of a brown-noser that follows the rules."_

_Stepping back, I focused all of my hate, rage and sorrow into one glare and directed it straight at the Colonels eyes._

"_I can kill you and I will. For I am your judge, jury and executioner! I find you guilty of murder, and for that you must die!" I roared out the last part, and launched a biotic warp at him. _

_The General thrashed and screamed in blood chilling agony, as his body was shredded apart at the molecular level. His blood poured freely onto the floor in small waterfalls as I continued to flay him alive. It wasn't until he stopped screaming and thrashing, that I realized that I was laughing like a murderer. I WAS a murderer. However, to me it was justified, and as I heard alarms blaring off in the distance, the shouts of battle ready men and woman and the pounding of boots against the floor coming towards the door, I prepared my mind and body to kill. Kill and kill and kill until I dropped._

_**Flashback end**_

* * *

I only heard the fierce pounding of my heart and the shouts of voices, until I felt the cold alien feeling of metal against my leg. The robotic arm. Alien.

"What we need to do, is to get Samara to find out what is wrong with Alex here, not interrogate him!" I heard the man, Jacob, yell at the woman.

"He could be a spy, a traitor or someone who is trying to get you hurt Shepard! I will not let him run about free on the ship!" Miranda argued back, her voice carrying the tone of one who does not trust easily.

"No, but I will. I want Samara to take a look at him immediately and find out what is wrong with him. While Samara is busy doing that, it is business as usual. Crew, dismissed." Shepard rumbled with a tone of finality.

* * *

*Peeks head from around corner* Hehehe... what has it been? Amonth? I have no excuse for the huge delay other than writers block. Quite frankly, im surprised that i am not been chased by angry readers with torches and pitchforks. Anyways, here is the next chapter. I will be gone on vacation to Mexico this Saturday so... no updates until i get back. I will try to get an update while i am there, but no guarantees. BloodWolf432, your OC will be introduced shortly, just need to go with the flow. Until then, enjoy, read and review.

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	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Mass Effect or anything in said Mass Effect universe. Only my characters and this story belong to me.

* * *

So let me get this straight. Samara, an Asari Justicar, was going to essentially mind rape me. A Justicar was pretty much an Asari that was EXTREMELY respected and revered in Asari culture, and they had the authority to kill anyone who was corrupted or bad or anything else like that. And she was going to probe my mind. In a room. Alone. Just me and her. Yeah, god must have really hated me, either that or I was just the unluckiest man alive in the galaxy.

Samara currently stood before me, graceful and lithe, dangerous and cold, beautiful and elegant. A perfect warrior. A perfect killer. In my defense, it was completely understandable that I was a little scared right now, and not pissing my pants in fear.

"Are you ready?" She asked of me, walking forwards to me as if I was already going to say yes.

"Not really" I muttered matter-of-factly.

She must of either not heard me, or didn't care, as she kept walking forwards until she paused in front of me.

I had no warning that she was going to begin other than "Embrace eternity!"

Her eyes turned into what was akin to black holes, and just like the namesake, I could not help but feel as if my eyes were being drawn towards hers, as I finally glanced into the depthless black orbs.

The feeling of vertigo immediately started to overwhelm me, and everything went dark, I could not see anything. I could vaguely feel my heart rate increasing and the thud of what felt like my body hitting the ground, but it felt off… as if I was watching from somewhere else or like my body was numbed.

A voice seemed to resonate all around, like it was coming from all directions at once, and also as if it were originating from the inside of my head.

"Remain calm, you are merely inside of your soul and memories." The voice sang inside of my head, and I felt almost as if I were being physically pushed down by it.

Finally, light seemed to seep through the inky blackness that I was in, and then all at once, color burst forth and burned brightly as if seeking my attention.

The overall color seemed to be a calm, friendly green…. But also at the same time, it pulsed with a red wave, as if fury was just waiting to be unleashed. Everything was too much for me, the color, the vertigo, the unknown, all of it was overwhelming me, and I struggled, crying out with every possible part of my body, trying to break free of this stasis that I was in.

Everything finally stopped, all of it closing off to lead me back into the abysmal dark that I had started in. I Didn't know what was going on, didn't know what was happening, and I closed my eyes, slammed them shut and willed for everything to just stop.

Nothing happened, and I felt a probing, like a person was picking at my mind. I cried out, completely freaked out by this feeling and I acted against it, crying with body and mind, thrashing ad struggling to get away from all of this.

The voice cried out to me, urgent and strained "Enough! Rest and relax!"

I didn't listen though, my instincts telling me that this was _wrong_, to get away, to fight back, to do anything.

The only thing that happened though, was like a reel going before my eyes, and what is showed was scaring an intriguing me.

* * *

It was me, and I was standing before a downed Eclipse merc that was begging for his life. I held a pistol to his head, my aim unwavering and solid. The man was pleading, shivering and crying asking for mercy, to be spared. But I never answered. Finally, a man came up behind me and stepped into vision. It was a Colonel of the Alliance Marines, and he had a cold, hard look on his face.

"Very good Commander…. now. Kill him." He ordered with finality, and I could only watch in horror as I pulled the trigger without a second's hesitation. The back of the man's head exploded outward in a red mist, and painted the ground with bits of bone, brain matter and blood.

I stared in horror at what had just happened before my eyes. I tried to get away from this and run, but I couldn't and the next thing I knew, another scene was playing before my eyes.

Batarian slave traders were capturing Civilians and were dragging them off to ships. Those that resisted were either beaten or shot. I could see myself ready a Mantis Sniper Rifle, popping a thermal clip and aiming down the scope. I looked around for a moment before spotting a fuel tanker. Setting my sights on it, I aimed and pulled the trigger.

'NOO!' I screamed out in my mind, but it was no use as the trigger was pulled and the Mass accelerated slug impacted the fuel tanker, puncturing a hole inside and causing sparks, which ignited the fuel. The Tanker blew up and the entire area was swallowed in a shock wave and white light. After the light cleared, I peeked back up, and saw the entire area had now become a 100 foot crater, nothing left intact except a small part of a barrel, still smoking.

I tried to cry, tried to move, tried to scream!... but I couldn't.

One final scene had shown up, and it was the scene where the teenager girl had been killed in front of me by the senior officers and where I had ultimately killed them. My body was flaring with biotic energy, so much that the entire room was cast into a livid ice blue color.

I heard an alarm, and running boots rushing towards the entrance of the door. Turning to face, I awaited eagerly for whatever lay beyond it.

"The traitor is inside! Shoot to kill!" One of the person's yelled, and with a hiss, the door opened up to reveal 4 heavily armed Marines.

They all raised their rifles to shoot at me, but I had already been ready for them, and unleashed a Biotic shockwave at them. All four of them were hit and flung into the walls, hard enough that I heard a couple _Snaps_ of breaking bones.

Rushing out into the corridor, I spotted a group of battle ready marines and charged at them. Erecting a biotic barrier around myself, I screamed in primal fury and biotically threw the closest marine near me into the wall with so much that her body crushed and blood spattered everywhere. All of the other marines snapped their weapons up at me and hosed me with gunfire.

The biotic barrier flared brightly as it soaked up the slugs, and getting within close enough range, I whipped out my knife and lunged at the marine to my left. The man jerked and coughed up blood as I impaled him on my knife, and he crumpled lifelessly to the ground as I yanked the knife out of him, already swiping at the next marine. The tip got the next marine in the throat and sliced it open. The man clutched his hands to his throat in a futile attempt to stop the gushing blood, gurgling and chocking on his blood as he sank to his knees. Whipping around, I threw my knife at the last and final marine, and was rewarded as the knife lodged in the woman's shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain and drop her assault rifle. Not even pausing, I whipped out my pistol, centered the sights on her head and pulled the trigger three times, twice to punch through the shielding and third for the kill shot.

The woman's blood blossomed into the air, but I was already moving, sprinting down the numerous corridors and cutting down anyone in my way. I finally rounded one last corner and stopped as I stared down the barrels of five assault rifles.

"Commander Babik! Throw down your weapons, and surrender!" A Woman yelled at me, bearing the rank of Gunnery Chief.

With reckless abandon, I charged forward, biotics flaring dangerously. All of the marines fired at me, but my barrier absorbed the slugs like a sponge and I continued to rush towards the marines, my instinctsscreaming at me to kill everyone there. Letting loose a biotic shockwave, I mowed down three of them before turing to the woman and sending a warp towards her. The womans dying, agonized screams filled my head and echoed in the corridor as she was torn apart at the molecular level. These screams only served to fuel my crazed, rage-induced madness and lunging forward, I grabbed the last marine and with a violent twist, snapped his neck.

Running towards two large doors, I opened them with a flick of my wrist and I immediately set upon to two guards right in front of me. The guards were quick though, and with a burst of accurate fire, they finally punched through my barrier. Growling in anger, I grabbed one of the marines around the neck, and twisting him so he was in front of me, i turned towards the other Marine who had just started firing. The man that i was using as a meat shield jerked and seemingly danced a rhythm to the impacting bullets. When the other marine stopped firing, I dropped the now dead marines body and ran up towards the woman. Her eyes grew as wide as saucer plates as I came withing stricking distance. The last thing she saw was the knife that was plunging towards her forehead. Not even bothering to yank my knife out of the woman's head, I sprinted for the hanger, where there was hopefully a shuttle or a Mako that I could take.

* * *

Finally, without warning, I was sent hurling back though the dark, and then to light. Blinking rapidly, I looked around, panicking and unsure of what was going on, then everything hit me like a sledgehammer.

I had been, WAS, a murderer. 'No, no no no no. No! This is not true, can't be, can't!'

Glancing down at my hands, I saw that my fleshy left hand was flaring brightly blue. Then I realized that my ENTIRE body save for my right arm was glowing blue. It was all true, I WAS a murderer.

Glancing around, I saw that everyone was watching me, Samara, Shepard, the man Jacob and the woman Miranda, all worried and surprised. I had to get away from their stares, had to get away from it all. Letting out a loud cry of anguish, I snapped my arms out, and was surprised when everyone had been frozen in stasis. Panicking, I ran out of the room, running blindly about the ship. A pair of doors opened up to reveal a huge room, with a galaxy map in the middle.

A couple of people glanced at me, but I ignored them and ran into what looked like an elevator. I hammered on the button that seemed to lead to the engineering level, trying to get away from everyone. As the doors closed, I could not help but feel panicked and depressed by what I had seen. How could I have been such a cold, heartless monster? I needed to get away from everyone, I could not bear to see their glance of concern.

Finally the elevator opened up, and I sprinted down the hallway, passing a surprised Lia on the way.

I opened up the door that said Cargo, and running in, I moved to the other side of the room and slumped down against the wall, clutching my hand in my hands.

'How could I have done all of that? I'm just a fucking monster, a goddamn murderer! I didn't deserve to be living with all of the evil that I had committed.'

My feelings finally overwhelmed me, and the tears spilt over, sliding down my face and dripping onto the floor. A monster. I was a monster, that's all I was.

The sound of the door opening caused me to snap my head up, and when I saw Lia there, I looked down in shame. How could I even deserve to have her in my presence? I deserved to be dead for all that I had done.

"Alex? Are you okay? Is something wrong?" She asked, her voice laced with worry.

I just grimaced and looked the other way, the tears still sliding my face. She must have notice, because she came over and wrapped me in a hug, her embrace warm and comforting. I turned into her hug and grabbed onto her tightly, my only lifeline in my depression that was overwhelming.

I only sobbed into her shoulder, saying how I was a monster, a murderer, and how I didn't deserve to live.

Lia responded by only rubbing my back and hair, comforting me and telling me how everything would be ok. It was here that I realized that I truly loved Lia, if she could accept me, comfort me, with even my past hanging over me like a cloud.

* * *

**Hey guy's Im back. Sorry for the really late update and short chapter, but school and writers block has currently got me down and i am just getting over it, so please bear with me here.**

**Bloodwolf432, your OC will DEFINATELY introduced next chapter, so don't ask. Anyways, read and review please.**

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